章節 9: Chapter 9: History [3/3]
"Who are you, And what have you done to me? Also..."
"How do you know my name?" Eileen demanded fiercely, pointing her sword at the mysterious young man across from her.
From the moment they fell into this secret chamber, events had been unfolding in a direction beyond Eileen's comprehension. If given the choice again, she would never accept the commission from the gang for this well-paid guiding job.
"Don't be nervous; we're not enemies, at least for now, put your weapon down,"
the other side, Renji, did indeed want to have a conversation with the female scavenger. He urgently needed to catch a native to gather information about this current "world", However Renji was not willing to chat with a person who was holding a sword at him.
He attempted to ease the tense atmosphere with a peaceful approach, but unfortunately, he failed.
Eileen not only didn't put down her sword but gripped it even tighter. From her eyes, Renji could see deep distrust.
Helpless, Renji had to resort to some uncivilized means for more effective communication.
He had never really expected a scavenger to obediently keep her word.
After all, can you still call someone a scavenger if they keep their word?
Renji's real confidence came from his own abilities.
In the game, any Eclipse who formed a "contract" with the protagonist could be controlled by the player in every aspect. To put it simply, once you were on the ship, you belonged to the captain, and there was no escape.
In the real-life version.
Renji tried to focus his thoughts on the female scavenger. In his field of vision, several faint threads suddenly appeared, linking him to Eileen.
When Renji had the thought of "put down the sword", immediately, to Eileen's astonishment, her body suddenly stopped obeying her will. She inexplicably lowered the sword towards the ground.
And it didn't end there. Following that, Eileen could only watch as the young man walked towards her.
At some point, he had found a rough and sturdy hemp rope in this secret chamber, as if it were his own home, and began to tie her up, loop by loop.
Throughout the process, Eileen could do nothing but stare, her eyes filled with embarrassment and humiliation, with tears in the corners of her eyes, as she remained immobilized, like a puppet on a string.
"I must say, Miss Eileen."
"That expression of yours might give people the wrong idea. Anyone would think I really did something bad to you."
Seeing her blend of anger, shame, and tears, especially with her now bound hands, Renji felt a momentary achievement. Then he clapped his hands and released Eileen from his control.
Immediately, a wave of angry curses filled the room.
"You Mother F***! Release me right *** now!"
"If you didn't release me, will ^%&$@!!!"
To protect his own ears, Renji chose to silence the female scavenger first.
"Miss Eileen, listen carefully. First of all, I won't mention the fact that you initially treated me as a hostage to save your own life."
"When you, of your own accord, summoned uncontrollable monsters and sought my help to resolve the crisis, I fulfilled your request. So, according to our agreement, no matter what happens to you, you have no reason to blame me. Please refrain from pulling your pants down and claiming ignorance."
"Secondly, I know you have many questions, and I do too. Out of humanitarianism and respect for you, we will take turns asking questions, starting with me."
"Finally, when each person is being asked questions by the other, please keep your mouth shut and patiently listen, then answer seriously without unnecessary words."
emphasized the words "keep your mouth shut."
"So."
"Nod to accept, shake your head to decline."
"By the way, if you shake your head, I will leave you right here like this." Renji stared into Eileen's eyes, showing no sign of joking.
In the end, even though anger was evident in the scavenger's gaze, she nodded.
"Very well Miss Eileen, you've made a good start for us to get along," Renji nodded in satisfaction and then lifted the restraints from the female scavenger.
As for Eileen...
'Getting along,!'
'Was there any other choice left for me?'
Of course, all of these thoughts were screaming in Eileen's mind.
She had already learned her lesson once, and she had also accepted the proposal of "taking turns asking questions," so Eileen was now obediently keeping her mouth shut, just as Renji had suggested.
However, her mouth being shut didn't prevent her from sending protest-filled glances towards Renji. Unfortunately, the young man simply ignored her, as if they were dealing with a new character just introduced into the game, and her affection level was low. It was normal.
"Alright, following the rules, I'll start with the questions. So, Miss Eileen, could you please explain to me the meaning of the 'Legacy' you've been mentioning?" After Renji finished speaking, he made a gesture that indicated she could speak now.
But...
"Huh? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Renji asked, looking at the female scavenger who was staring at him with a puzzled and strange expression.
Seeing the young man seemed genuinely clueless, Eileen said in disbelief, "You don't know about Emperor Ashen"
"Well, just to be sure, let me confirm. When you mention Ashen are you referring to that handsome and charismatic figure who rose from nothing, united the wasteland with his outstanding intelligence and leadership, cleansed the 'Tainted Miasma' contamination, and ultimately became the greatest savior and emperor?"
"Is there a second Emperor Ashen in this world?" Eileen asked in return, completely puzzled by the young man's smug expression.
"Since you know about the Legendary Emperor, why ask about the meaning of 'Legacy'? It refers to everything left behind by the Emperor after his death! For example, this secret chamber, this stone coffin, and what's inside the coffin..."
Eileen stopped mid-sentence.
Because previously, Renji had behaved too normally. By normal, she meant he didn't appear to be one of those indescribable, eerie entities. Instead, he seemed more like the kind of person she disliked, someone who spoke in a refined manner, explained things logically, and talked more than anyone else.
So, she almost forgot that this black-haired young man had emerged from this "stone coffin" or, in all likelihood, he was the "legacy" itself.
Renji didn't notice Eileen's pause; he was now frowning, his attention completely drawn to her previous statement. He quickly asked,
"Ashen... is dead? When did this happen? And how did he die? As far as I know, with the Emperor's strength, there shouldn't be anything in this world capable of threatening his life."
"As far as you know?" Eileen found the young man's way of speaking increasingly peculiar.
But considering his mysterious background, Eileen slightly adjusted her attitude and replied honestly,
"Actually, saying that the Emperor is dead is more of a folk saying. A more official term, as I remember from the history books, would be that the Emperor disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"As for the specific history, I'm not very clear, but it's roughly about five hundred years ago. After the decisive battle related to the source of the 'Tainted Miasma' the triumphant Emperor disappeared on that night. Even the Emperor's five most powerful personal guards, who returned with him, couldn't sense his whereabouts at all. The Ashen Empire in history mobilized the entire nation's power to search for any clues, but in the end, they found nothing and had to declare the fact that the Emperor had disappeared."
"However, because the whole event was too mysterious and bizarre, many people don't believe the joint statement issued by the five personal guards. They think the Emperor didn't disappear but speculate that he died from severe injuries sustained during the battle. There are also those who guess that the Emperor was infected by the 'Tainted Miasma' and chose to end his own life to prevent going berserk. There are even other theories..."
"Hold on!"
Renji had no interest in hearing more speculations about his "disappearance." He had a pretty good idea of the reason for it. It was the moment he entered the "Second playthrough"
But it wasn't a direct time travel; he had arrived in the wasteland world 500 years later. Was it post-apocalypse, a brand-new era? This was less important. What concerned Renji the most was,
"Are they still alive?"
"Who?" Eileen asked, puzzled.
"I mean the five personal guards you just mentioned!"
This was the first time Eileen had seen the young man so impatient and agitated. However, this only deepened her confusion.
"Come on, isn't this common knowledge? If they weren't around, where did the five major forces currently dividing the continent come from?"
Renji didn't need to ask anymore; Eileen had anticipated this and explained,
"After the Emperor died or disappeared, his five personal guards took their own subordinates and split from the empire. They established their own forces in different parts of the continent, eventually forming the two nations, two alliances, and one city we have today."
"Two nations refer to Holy Kingdom in the north and the Dragon Kingdom in the east. The two alliances are the Mechanoid Alliance in the south and the Forest Alliance in the west. Finally, there's the largest neutral city in the center of the continent, Magic City."
Eileen had initially wanted to explain which of the Emperor's personal guards corresponded to which of these nations and alliances, but from the young man's reaction, it seemed that just hearing the names of these factions was enough.
On the other hand, "Why would they split?" Renji murmured to himself.
Based on Eileen's account of history, it seemed that after his "disappearance," his six-star [Calamity class] wives, whom he had painstakingly raised with love and care, decided to split up the Ashen Empire he had built together with them. This made no sense to Renji.
"I told you, let people finish!" Eileen said, a note of frustration evident in her tone.
She continued to explain the part she didn't get to finish earlier,
"I mentioned earlier that there were speculations among the people about the Emperor's disappearance. One of the most plausible theories, shared by many today, including myself, is that..."
"In reality, the five personal guards under the Emperor were the second most powerful 'Eclipse' in this world, second only to the Emperor himself. They collaborated..."
"...To…. Kill …..The ….Emperor!"
Eileen said each word deliberately.
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